Pianists That Time Forgot

Abstract

It is same in almost every field of endeavor: big stars shine so brightly they blot out many others whose efforts are also worthwhile. Over past century of recordings, we have had many famous and excellent pianists who have made major recording careers: Sviatoslav Richter, Artur Schnabel, Artur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and many others. But record-collecting pianophiles know that there are also many major pianists who are forgotten by all but a handful of specialists. Here are a few of my favorites. ROSITA RENARD A hardcore pianophile friend of mine once told me that he was listening to my radio program, Grand Piano, and heard me doing a preview for next show. I referred to the greatest pianist you've never heard of, and he thought immediately of Rosita Renard (1894-1949). And he was right. Renard has one of sparsest discographies of any major pianist. Although she played several times in United States and Europe, she spent most of her career in Chile, where she recorded a handful of 78 rpms for Victor and Brunswick. During World War II she was discovered by conductor Erich Kleiber, and in 1949 she performed in New York, at Carnegie Hall, for first time in more than two decades. Her concert was a great success, and she returned to Chile to prepare for a United States tour. But she contracted encephalitis, and died at age of fifty-five. Fortunately, Renard's Carnegie Hall recital was recorded. It was originally issued in a limited LP edition by Society of Friends of Music of Bogota (perhaps a bogus organization, since LPs were only issued in United States), then reissued by International Piano Archives (IPA 120/121, 1977). Its current edition on compact disc (VAI Audio VAIA/IPA 1028-2) is supplemented by a generous selection of Renard's 78s. The recital shows a great pianist at very highest level. She plays Bach's Partita no. 1, BWV 825, and Mozart's Sonata in A Minor, K. 310, very swiftly and cleanly, and with tremendous drama. Her Chopin etudes are breathtaking. This is, frankly, one of greatest recorded live piano recitals ever issued. While material from 78s is not as exciting, lacking stimulus of live audience, it is still consistent with level of pianism and musicianship heard in live concert. There are a few more Renard 78s not part of this collection, including a set of same Mozart sonata. Some Renard Beethoven performances, from 78s and airchecks, were included on a private LP so obscure that it does not have a label name. Until some enterprising label picks up these items for another compact disc, they will be inaccessible to nearly everyone. But VAL set is enough to convince us of Renard's greatness. RICHARD BUHLIG Buhlig (1880-1952) was an American pianist and teacher. He made no commercial recordings at all, only a few piano rolls. At his home in Los Angeles in 1938, he made some private acetates, playing in his living room, which reveal him to have been a titan. Unfortunately, a serious memory slip mars fugue in Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata, no. 29, but otherwise (and throughout Sonata no. 30 as well) playing is engrossing and mesmerising, as it is in Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue and an excerpt from book 2 of his Well-Tempered Clavier. The sound quality of these old home recordings is quite listenable. All of this material was issued as Dante HPC 015, but recording has now disappeared from catalogs with collapse of company in 2001. It is well worth searching for. YOURA GULLER This Romanian Jewish pianist (her religion is relevant due to her obscurity during Second World War) was born in 1895 and died in 1980. In 1920s, she had a substantial career, including associations with numerous composers and such highlights as performing cycle of Beethoven violin sonatas with Joseph Szigeti. …